The parade featured gun-toting Nazis and people wearing striped death camp uniforms. The troupe has canceled all of its remaining shows following denunciation by the Spanish foreign minister.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Sotolongo
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A Spanish Carnival troupe that was performing a Holocaust-themed parade has canceled its remaining shows following an outcry over the planned events, organizers said Wednesday.
Spain's foreign minister decried the parade, which featured gun-toting Nazis, lines of people wearing striped concentration camp uniforms, and girls in white holding Israeli flags, a day after Israel's ambassador also slammed the performance.
The group has since apologized to Jewish groups Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Sotolongo
The troupe has apologized to the Jewish community in Spain over the parade, in the small town of Campo de Criptana, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) southeast of Madrid.
"Horrified by the Carnival parade in Campo de Criptana," tweeted Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Laya. "I totally reject any trivialization of the Holocaust," she said.
Images showed people dressed in Nazi-style regalia and children dressed in the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear in Nazi-occupied areas. Performers also formed a line, dressed as Jewish victims in red hot-pants and bustiers with a gunshot wound to the heart and dancing with Israeli-style flags.
The Israeli flag featured prominently in the paradeImage: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Sotolongo
"I am horrified by and utterly reject the shameful trivialization of the Holocaust that took place at the Campo de Criptana carnival," tweeted Israeli Ambassador to Spain Rodica Radian-Gordon on Tuesday. "It is an affront to the memory of the victims of the Shoah and an intolerable expression of anti-Semitism."
The display, which featured a parade float designed like a gas chamber, was the second Holocaust-themed Carnival parade. This week, a Belgian town hosted a parade featuring floats with anti-Semitic caricatures showing "Jews" with hooked noses and gold bars. Some participants dressed up like insects clad in fake Orthodox Jewish garb, with other attendees sporting costumes intended to resemble Nazi uniforms.
Anti-Semitic tropes on display at centuries-old Carnival
The Belgian carnival in Aalst is known for mocking public figures, but recently came under fire for promoting insulting and derogatory depictions of Jews. Carnival parades take place every year across Spain and Europe in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent.
Germany's Rosenmontag parades see politicians lampooned, racism scorned
Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for the Rosenmontag parades in several western German cities.
Events in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz drew the biggest crowds and laughs but this year, security was tight.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Cities at a standstill
Rosenmontag is the highlight of Germany's six-day long pre-Lent Carnival festivities. The annual event is a chance for the public to dress up in fancy dress, lampoon each other and watch or take part in the street parades featuring no-holds-barred satire. Despite the usual color and caricature, this year's events were a little more subdued following the the Hanau shootings.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Arnold
Hearts beat for Hanau
A float featuring a crying Cologne cathedral could be seen along with a gigantic heart bearing the inscription "Our heart beats for Hanau." Several parade participants incorporated anti-racism messages into their floats in the wake of last week's tragedy. In several cities, the Carnival celebrations were paused temporarily for a minute's silence to remember the victims.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Police presence boosted
Security was tightened at all Carnival events. On February 19, a German man, with links to the far-right, killed nine people of foreign descent at a shisha bar and a cafe. A strong police presence was noticeable amid concerns of reprisal attacks or further violence by neo-Nazi groups.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
No trademark tan
Donald Trump has been a regular victim of Carnival satire since his election in 2016. Rather than wearing his usual orange tan, the US president's face was depicted as being as white as a ghost — or perhaps clown, in this case. The float included the leader's new campaign slogan "Keep America Great," in time for his run for a second term.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Pfeil
The Brexit split
The Carnival festivities, which take place every February, are always a mix of topical and traditional themes. After Britain's departure from the European Union last month, Düsseldorf constructed a giant figurine of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's body split in two, with his kilt-wearing legs representing Scotland's bid for self-rule, attempting to run back to rejoin the bloc.
Image: Reuters/T. Schmuelgen
'Propping up the far-right'
German politics got, perhaps, the biggest laugh. The political scandal in the eastern German state of Thuringia has left many voters bitter. Mainstream political parties were accused of cooperating with the far-right Alternative for Germany to oust the longtime socialist leader. So in Düsseldorf's parade, AfD state leader Björn Höcke's Nazi salute is seen being propped up by CDU and FDP leaders.
Image: Reuters/T. Schmuelgen
Mood not dampened
Spirits remained high for Monday's parades despite grey skies and rain. Several Carnival events were canceled a day earlier due to Storm Yulia's powerful winds. Although organizers in Cologne and Düsseldorf had tried to move their parades to earlier in the day and shorten the routes, eventually they had to tell the expected crowds of tens of thousands to stay home due to the storm.
